This was the cutest book!! I really enjoyed reading and finding out the characters. I had not read any of the other books that this author has written. I now want to read them all!!!

This book was so fun, I loved seeing the Starfield characters again. Such a fun Beauty and the Beast retelling.

We first met Vance in The Princess and the Fangirl and I hated him! He was the exact type of guy I cannot stand but somehow Ashley got me to fall in love with him in this book. We learn there is a lot more to him than we think and that he isn’t quite like the persona he shows to the media.

Rosie was a wonderful character and a total booknerd! I loved her from the moment she spoke about her love for books and how much these fictional worlds mean to her. She was so relatable and I think all of us booknerds will immediately love her.

This story takes all the great parts of Beauty and the Beast and puts a fresh nerdy spin on it. Obviously an integral part of the story is the incredible library and we spend a lot of the story there which I loved! I liked how both Rosie and Vance slowly put their guards down and showed their vulnerable side and it all happened when they were both in the library. My nerdy heart could not take it when Rosie read the story to Vance I had a huge grin on my face! The build up of Rosie and Vance initially not liking each other at all and the tension and the angst was so good! I was literally screaming at them!

I really loved Rosie’s friends and that Vance had at least one true friend who basically told him to get it together. The Gaston of the story was the absolute worst and the way he manipulated things and doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. I was mad on Rosie’s behalf. I also loved seeing cameos of characters from the previous books and seeing what they were doing now.

Overall this was a cute nerdy story that I’m sure everyone will enjoy, especially you love beauty and the beast. It will fill your nerdy heart with joy and Rosie is all of us introverted booknerds who would rather spend the evening reading than go to party.

A wonderful retelling of Beauty and the Beast, set in the author's established Once Upon a Con world. Delightfully geeky and full of heart.

3.5 stars

This book was part of a series which I have not read, and also a sort of tribute to the Beauty and the Beast story. I read it more as a young adult love story and it was readable and had some good elements.

Rosie is the female lead. She is still grieving after her mother's death a year ago, but hates being seen as the girl with the dead mom. Her dad is an interesting character: understanding, klutzy, possibly bi, and seen by her classmates as being impossibly cool. Rosie is juggling a lot of issues. Her dad has financial issues and they've had to sell their home and her mother's treasured book collection in order to survive.

Rosie and Vance kind of meet twice. The first time is magic, but they are both indulging in cosplay so there is an aura of unreality involved. Then, through an only-possible-in-fiction setup, Rosie meets Vance again (but doesn't know he's her cosplay partner) after sort of illegally entering the old castle-like home he is renting in her small home town. Vance is a quite notorious young actor, a darling of the internet with a reputation for being a bad boy. We see fairly quickly this is not who he actually is, but he does nothing to dispel the image. After his latest escapade, he is being punished by being banished to a no-publicity interim in a small town.

You can guess the rest. They meet, they clash, but then they realize they are drawn to each other. They finally come together but then there is an incident and misunderstanding which forces them apart. Pretty standard romance fare. Is there a happy ending? You figure it out. Rosie has a pretty strong sense of self and a great group of friends and family. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this third installment in the Once Upon a Con series by Ashley Poston. I am always a sucker for Beauty and the Beast stories, and this one was fantastic. I really hope to see more in this series in the future. So good!

It’s not a bad book by any means. However, if you’re going to do a Beauty and the Beast retelling set in the ExcelsiCon universe, you need to bring it, not just bc of how iconic the source material is, but also bc of how great the first 2 books of the series were. I actually liked the premise and characters that Poston came up with, but the execution just wasn’t great. I feel like more planning/editing should have gone into this, and there just wasn’t enough substance to the story. There was definitely something missing IMO.

**Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review**

This was such an enjoyable read, as were the two previous books in this series. I found it to be more of a hint to beauty and the beast rather than a retelling, the underlying setting and general characters were parallel to the fairy tale but the book didn't feel too immersed or repetitive of it. The characters were relatable, each in their own way, and the romance was slow and a little choppy, but it was cute all the same.

So i normally steer towards fantasy and scifi books but as beauty and the beast is my fave disney film and Ashley Poston wrote one of my fave scifi series I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to read this and im so glad I did. I dont know if it is because of everything going on in the world that I needed to read something a bit light hearted, fluffy and fun but that is exactly what this book gave me!
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The characters, the storyline, the disney references, the nostalgia and butterflies of first loves. This book just gave me everything! If you want something that is going to make you smile and have all the feels then this book is for you! is the 3rd book in the series but they are all individual stories set in the same world and I already have geekerella waiting for me!

This is definitely my favorite Poston book written so far. The characters are well developed, and Rosie is a strong and admirable female lead. I adore her love for books and the underlying modernized story of Beauty and the Beast. This is a "tale as old as time" brought to new and enjoyable light.

Fun romance featuring a handsome movie star and the local geek-girl: what’s not to love?! Interesting side characters too in the form of a non-binary best friend and a bisexual dad.
All my favourite ingredients for an easy breezy read. I’d definitely recommend this book for a 13+ audience.

BOOKISH AND THE BEAST is, by far, the CUTEST book I've read all year!

I LOVE Ashley Poston. I love her whip-smart prose, her snarky-yet-sweet characters, her immersive world-building. The Once Upon A Con series is one of my all-time favourites, and this third instalment did NOT disappoint.

In fact, it might have just become my favourite in the trilogy!

The romance is adorable. Every character is incredibly developed -- from insufferable Garrett (this story's Gaston) to bad-boy heartthrob Vance (the Beast) and my all-time favourite character, *Space Dad* (I LOVE HIM. SO MUCH).

It had just enough fairy-tale magic to solidify its status as a Beauty and the Beast-inspired story, yet definitely held up as a modern, geeky, contemporary romance in its own regard. I loved the pop culture references sprinkled throughout, and checking in with the protagonists of Poston's last two books (Darien, Elle, Imogen, Jessica, Ethan and Harper) made my little Once Upon A Con-loving heart SO full.

Whether you're looking for a light, fun summer romance or a geeky romp down fairy-tale lane, BOOKISH AND THE BEAST is the story for you.

My only question is: where can I find myself a Vance Reigns? <3

I managed to read the whole book without realising that it was the third in a series (Once Upon a Con). It was a great, fun read and absolutely worked as a stand-alone book.

Rosie Thorne is unsure about how to write her college admission essay. She lost her mother, but doesn't want that to be all that defines her. Starfield novels were really important to her mum and now Rosie and her friends are massive fans of the franchise. At the start of the novel, Rosie reluctantly attends a Starfield convention and meets an incredible boy. Before long though, she's back to life as she knows it. That is until she crosses paths with a Starfield actor called Vance Reign, and the two are forced into one another's lives.

This was a light read, but touching in places. The fact that it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling attracted me to the book (best Disney film of all time...), but this was perhaps the weakest element of the book. The links with the fairy tale were forced in places, and distracting in others.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beauty is often found within. Always with her nose stuck in the Starfield book series, Rosie Throne struggles with writing her college application essay and dreams about the masked boy she met at ExcelsiCon. Vance Reigns finds himself trapped living in isolation after a scandal forces him to hide from the paparazzi. When Rosie ruins a collector’s edition of a Starfield book, she finds herself working alongside Vance to pay off the debt. Rosie is elated to be working with the actor playing one of her favorite characters; however, Vance is not who she expected as he is not willing to help her. Bookish and the Beast will have readers cheering for these two characters to have their happy ending. Poston brings a classic fairy tale into the modern age and appeals to those who love to enjoy the science fiction genre.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

4/5 stars.

As I was reading this book I kept thinking how much I was enjoying it, and how fun it was to read something that seemed to find the right balance between light contemporary and the darker issues that were lying within the characters' histories.
This is the first book in the Once Upon a Con series that I've read, and I didn't feel like I was lost or confused, so I'd definitely say it can be read as a stand-alone.
I really liked the representation in this book! Quinn is a non-binary character and Rosie's dad is bi. The way that the author included these important pieces of the character's identity was really interesting to me because it wasn't introduced immediately after we met the characters, and so when it was brought up, it didn't make the characters feel as if they were flat and only there to promote diversity. Instead, the characters were already formed, and this was just another layer to their identities. I really liked as well how Quinn was running for Homecoming Overlord, it was a fun part of the book.
I think my favourite part of this book was watching the relationship between Rosie and Vance grow. It didn't happen immediately, and it was fun to see them interact with each other. I would have liked a little bit more build-up in their relationship moving from friends to romantic interests because while I liked it, it felt a bit rushed by the end.
One of the reasons I only gave this book 4 stars was because there were quite a few spelling and grammar errors. There was also one time (towards the end of the book) where the POV switched but there was nothing to indicate an official switch. The POVs in the book are first-person between Rosie and Vance.
It was a quick and fun read, and I'd definitely recommend giving it a try!

Look out for my review to be posted on my bookstagram page (alli_the_bookaholic13) this weekend!

As the title says, this is a retelling of the famous story of the Beauty and the Beast. In this novel, bookish Rosie Thorne meets prince charming at a party that took place in the middle of a convention for fans of the Starfield saga. Problem is, she never saw his face because he was wearing a mask.

Rosie had the most amazing night of her life, and most probably the stranger lived far away from her, so she decided not to duel on the matter any longer. She kept this memory for herself only and continue living her life, after all, she had to focus on her last year of school, and dreadful college applications.

Little did she know, that her prince was closer than she ever imagined, and what is more, he may not be as charming as she thought he was after all.

This is the third instalment in the “Once upon a time” series by Ashley Poston, and certainly my favourite so far. It may be because my favourite tale of all times is precisely The Beauty and the Beast, and I like to read retellings of it whenever I find any.

The way in which the author has portrayed both the main characters and the secondary ones, is in fact very precise and concise. We have Rosie, a girl who has a very heavy weight on her shoulders, she is dealing with a lot of personal issues but she is still able to keep her strength and force of will. She has the help of her two best friends and her father, who is a very cool, open-minded character. He likes to read, and has a beautiful relationship with his daughter.

On the other end we have Vance, the “prince”. He is portrayed as a handsome man, but who is emotionally distant from everybody. This behaviour of his comes from years of feeling insecure and alone. His uncle is the character that I loved the most because he knows what Vance needs and even though he has lots of patience with Vance, he also knows how to call him out.

Of course, this retelling also needs a Gaston, and in this case we are having a very annoying one. Garrett is going to be this very popular guy who thinks that Rosie should appreciate that he has set his eyes on her. As I said before, he cannot be considered anything but a big-headed, annoying and arrogant person. But as we already know, he will get what he deserves.

Vance Reigns is a certifiable bad boy movie star and his bad behavior has gotten him exiled to a small town and he is not happy. He plans his escape on his 18th birthday from the first day he gets there, but then Rosie comes into his life. Rosie is a bookworm and a huge fan of Vance’s movies and the books they come from but she is sick of being known as the “girl whose mom died”. Can these two find the best in each other? What will happen at the Homecoming dance? A fun romance read loosely based on Beaty and the Beast.

Bookish and the Beast by Ashely Poston, 288 pages. Quirk Books, 2020. $19. LGBTQIA
Language: R (81 swears, 0 “f” + Spanish and British swears); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Rosie is more than just a part of the Starfield fandom -- it’s in her blood, passed down by her late mother. This love for Starfield, especially for the villain of the series, ends up getting Rosie in more trouble than she could have ever expected, including falling in love with a stranger who cosplays as General Sond and being forced to spend time around the actor himself who plays Sond. But trouble has a way of working out as more of a blessing in disguise when, finally, all the masks are lowered.
Fairy tale retellings are my favorite kinds of books, but I have a hard time swallowing Poston’s versions. Poston has created a nerdy, modern backdrop for the classic stories, but the way she writes more like an under-edited fanfiction story is too rough around the edges. The misuse of concepts like cosplay, the sudden switch from past to present and back again, and the things that characters know without the reader being able to follow along were distracting and detracted from the fun references Poston made to her previous books and outside media, the cute romance, and the message that we can be more than what others -- and ourselves -- expect. The mature content rating is for alcohol, mention of condoms and sex organs, and innuendo.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

This was another attempt at reading a book from this series but like Geekarella, I could not get into the characters or writing style of this one. They are a fun concept but just not for me.

This book was everything! I love Ashley's Once Upon a Con series, and this one was no different. I could greatly identify myself with the main character, and I devoured the whole book within the day.